February 12, 2025 By Geri Duff
On a cold February morning in 1975 about 4:30 a.m. a report of a fire in a boat tied up at the Hingham Shipyard came in. The Artic Fox, a converted minesweeper had two crewmen sleeping on board who were able to escape through a window and make their way to a boat nearby where Ken and Gail Diehl were living, and the couple reported the fire. This photo shows smoke billowing from the ship and the difficulty getting access to the fire. Water and lots of foam was poured into the ship and by the time the fire was declared out it was nine hours later. Over 100 firefighters from 8 towns, Navy and Coast Guard firefighters, 3 Coast Guard Boats, a Mass Port boat, a Salvation Army Canteen Truck, ambulances from adjacent towns and a helicopter sent up from Cape Cod worked the fire. This was taken by off duty firefighter Mark Duff.
